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Home / Lifestyle

'We named our baby girl two weeks ago - but now our family want us to change it'

NZ Herald
18 Feb, 2021 12:38 AM3 mins to read

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The parents have already been using the name for two weeks. Photo / Getty Images

The parents have already been using the name for two weeks. Photo / Getty Images

A new dad is standing firm saying he will not change the name of his baby daughter despite the request of his wife's family.

The man from the US said for the length of his wife's pregnancy the couple struggled to decide a name for their baby.

Even two weeks after her birth, the married couple were yet to come up with a name for their precious bundle of joy.

Not long after her arrival, his wife's sister came to visit and they asked her for some baby name ideas as she's "usually good at this type of stuff".

After coming up with a list of names, they all liked the name Freya.

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The parents asked her if they could use it and the dad said that although she was "a little hesitant at first" she agreed they could have it as she "wasn't planning on having children soon and would probably come up with more names later".

But just days later the sister-in-law made a stunning demand, asking them to change the baby's name.

"A couple days ago, my wife's sister found out she was pregnant.

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"We were really happy for her, but then they came over to talk and asked us to change our daughter's name because she wanted to use it for her baby.

"We have been calling my daughter Freya for the last week and a half, and we already feel pretty attached to the name, plus she already said we could have it.

"So we asked her if she could just use a different name and she got mad and said she had the name picked out since she was 15.

"We feel kind of bad but she doesn't even know if the baby will be a girl."

The parents have already been using the name for two weeks. Photo / Getty Images
The parents have already been using the name for two weeks. Photo / Getty Images

Unsure of what to do, the father reached out on social media for advice, with hundreds of people weighing in on the complex issue.

One person supported the father, writing: "If she didn't want you to use the name, she shouldn't have suggested it."

Another said: "Changing a name after the baby is born is an ordeal. If she feels that strongly about it, it's not that big of a deal to have two kids in the family with the same name."

Others weren't so kind, with a number of people saying the sister-in-law's hesitation should have been enough to choose a different name, but sympathised with both sides.

"You stole the name."

Another wrote: "You knew she really wanted that name. She was a fool for telling you the names she loves. If the baby is already born, it's unreasonable to ask you to change her name now."

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